About Us

Our Commitment To You

With a practitioner’s lens, we are committed to giving non-profit organizations, galleries, libraries, archives, and museums the best tools and strategies to be successful in your organization. Our services include:

  • Strategic Planning: Environmental Scans, Stakeholder Engagement, and Building Strategic Plans
  • Revenue Development: Charting Funding Opportunities, Business Model Realignment, and Social Enterprise Strategy
  • Digital Transformation: Technology Roadmaps, Online Programming, and Increasing Discoverability

We can work with you to provide short-term action plan as well as a comprehensive list of considerations for your organization to develop over the longer term horizon.

Our Team

Victoria Stasiuk | Founder

Victoria is dedicated to finding optimal solutions for the cultural sector through digital strategies, and online and onsite experiences linked to the mission and mandate of cultural organizations.

Throughout her career, she has sought community partnerships and alliances to produce positive results.

Projects and clients have included Museum London, Forest City Gallery, the London Arts Council, Bruce County Museum, the Ontario Genealogical Society, the Oakville Arts Council and the Rural Ontario Institute.

Victoria’s intellectual curiosity and passion for increasing audiences for the cultural sector are demonstrated by her commitment to increasing online discoverability for GLAM in Canada.

Key firm insights include:

 

Rhonda A. Yearwood, MA | Researcher/Curator

Rhonda Yearwood is a well-rounded GLAM sector professional with national and international work experience.

Node Curatorial Studies taken include: Decolonizing Curatorial and Artistic Practices, Expanding Exhibitions: Innovative Approaches to Curating, Towards a New Definition of Museums: Curatorial Theory and Practice.

Ms. Yearwood has implemented art installations and served as the Assistant Curator and Archivist for the St. James Cathedral in Toronto Canada.

Ms. Yearwood worked with the Canadian Museum Association team from June 2023 to April 2024 to contribute towards the CMA April 2024 Conference in Niagara Falls Canada.

Rhonda has been active in Scarborough Arts projects throughout 2023 and 2024. (Digital Landscapes & Portrait Photography Course Moderator and Exhibit Implementation for 2023 Juried Art Show)

 

Supriya Vijay Mitnasala | Marketing/Communications

After completing a Bachelor of Arts in India, Supriya completed an Arts Administration/Cultural Management and Professional Writing/Communications at Humber College in Toronto, Canada.

Supriya provided marketing and design products for the Wiki Wednesday peer learning group throughout 2023 and 2024.

Supriya is keen to work on communications and discoverability projects with VS Associates clients.  Recently she collaborated with Victoria to enhance our Online Discoverability Insight.

Her recent experience in the Greater Toronto Area has included positions at Koffler Arts and Arts Etobicoke in outreach, promotional storytelling at events and programming.

What Clients Are Saying About Us

One of the great things about working with Victoria, is her ability to identify trends and leading practices in the cultural sector.

I’ve always appreciated her capacity building approach for the sector. 

Robin Armistead, Manager of Cultural Services, City of London, Canada

I appreciated her approach to our organizational development project.

In particular, it was useful to have someone that worked with our team to bring out everyone’s best work.

Joseph Dietrich, Past President, Rural Ontario Institute

Our team recognizes Victoria’s strength with optimizing digital tools and platforms to achieve optimal results.

I’ve appreciated her ability to identify industry trends and community demographic patterns.

Michael Van Belle, President, Adventus Research + Consulting, Inc.

Publications

Project Reports

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Ontario Municipal Cultural Planning Inventory Project, Summary of Findings, April 2005

Key Takeaway – We identified key success factors, barriers, and arrangements that work.

Project DetailsThis report was produced jointly by Carrie Brooks-Joiner & Associates and VS Associates.  Our advisory committee included Neil Bradford, Stephen Chait, Nancy Duxbury, Susan Gardner, David Goode, Marilyn Havelka and Scott Vokey.

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Volunteer Program Review, Report to Management Team, 2023

Key Takeaway – We worked with volunteers, and staff to identify best practices and examples for the four pillars of Museum Excellence so volunteers and staff can work together on an enhanced visitor experience.

Project Details – The report provided recommendations to management based on ideas generated from volunteer/staff interviews, municipal benchmarking, and an on-site strategy session with volunteers and staff facilitated by Victoria Stasiuk.

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Embracing Wikidata for Visual Artists: A Guide to Discoverability Online, October 2023

Key Takeaway – In Series 2 of Wiki Wednesdays, Digital Literacy for GLAM, we produced a Tool Kit document for visual artists and art galleries to use to increase their online discoverability by adding their cultural information to Wikidata.

Project Details – This guide was funded by the Canada Council for the Arts, co produced by Victoria Stasiuk & Associates and Strategic Moves.  Authors include Felicity Buckell and Ingrid Petri.

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Recruiting and Hiring Museum Curators and Directors: A Human Resource Tool

Key Takeaway – This tool is intended to help boards, conservation authorities and local governments in designing human resource strategies based on the development of competency frameworks, job descriptions and job analysis techniques that are reflective of heritage conservation and preservation, community accountability and cultural management and leadership.

Project Details – This project managed by the Ontario Museum Association was funded by an HRIP grant administered by Cultural Careers Council Ontario.

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Auchmar Business Plan - Uses for Auchmar, 2011

Key Takeaway – We developed a draft policy filter for the use of the Auchmar Main Building and Grounds balancing heritage risk management criteria and links to the City of Hamilton’s strategic plan focus areas.

Project Details – The purpose of the report was to create a framework to evaluate potential uses as part of a larger business plan for the future use of Auchmar.  The research included an examination of best practices and heritage standards.

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Cultural Planners' Forum, 2005

Key Takeaway – In the forum report authored by Greg Baeker, Bill Bulick and Victoria Stasiuk key themes, resources and governance systems were explored.

Project Details
– Greg Baeker co-led this forum with Bill Bulick in advance of delegates gathering for the Creative Places and Spaces Risk Revolution Conference with support from Toronto Artscape.

Opinion / Editorial

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The challenges of London's culturescape

Key Takeaway – Victoria summarizes five key elements required to develop local culture. (Political leadership, knowledgeable municipal staff, community-based coordinating agencies, local business partnerships, and research expertise)

Details – This editorial was produced while Victoria Stasiuk was a senior associate with Euclid Canada, involved in the municipal cultural forums funded by the Ontario Ministry of Culture and the Centre for Cultural Management.

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Building Alliances for Culture in Your Municipality, 2004

Key Takeaway – Greg Baeker’s pillars for success in effective municipal cultural planning and decision-making using the example of London Ontario and Kamloops.

Details – Victoria wrote this article for Municipal World Magazine from the perspective of being the Past President of the London Arts Council and a board member of the Canadian Cultural Research Network.